Israeli settlers beat press photographer as soldiers watch in West Bank

What Happened

Jaafar Ashtiyeh, a 58-year-old Agence France-Presse photographer, was beaten by armed Israeli settlers with the butts of their rifles near the northern West Bank village of Aqraba while covering Palestinian olive harvesting with AFP photographer John Wessels, according to witnesses, Ashtiyeh's family, and fellow journalists. Ashtiyeh, whose car was clearly marked "Press", suffered bruises to his head and torso and was taken to hospital in Nablus; X-rays found no broken bones, but he remained for round-the-clock observation, his son Zain Jaafar said. Wessels said about a dozen Israeli soldiers were around 500 metres away and did not intervene; he was also threatened at gunpoint. The assailants took Ashtiyeh's camera equipment. In the same incident, a man on a quad bike fired live shots, and one Palestinian was hospitalised with a gunshot wound to the foot, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Wessels said the man who initially fired wore a long white shirt and military fatigue trousers and boots commonly worn by soldiers.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The assault occurred during the annual olive harvest in the occupied West Bank, a period of recurring settler violence that has worsened ahead of Israeli elections at the end of the month. It highlights the impunity with which settlers attack Palestinians and journalists and the inaction of Israeli forces, amid a broader context in which about 500,000 Israeli settlers live among 3 million Palestinians on occupied territory deemed illegal under international law. International press groups condemned the attack as an attempt to obstruct reporting from the West Bank, and the UN Human Rights Office has said Israel was the world's leading killer of journalists in 2025, with at least 225 journalists killed in Lebanon and Gaza.

Watch For

The Israeli military's response to AFP's request for comment and any investigation into why soldiers present did not intervene; possible arrests or charges against the settler assailants; further settler attacks on journalists and olive farmers as the harvest continues ahead of Israeli elections at the end of the month; and any response from Israeli authorities to the Foreign Press Association's demand for a full investigation.